Symbian in Motion

MacRumors posted this story about all iPhone users now having free access to AT&T hotspots. Click through to check it out or for you ADD types, here’s the gist: Have an iPhone? Go to any Barnes and Noble, Starbucks or one of 71,000+ AT&T WiFi hotspots and connect from your iPhone. You’ll be greeted with a dedicated page where you can enter a valid iPhone number and access WiFi for free.

A reader then added that by faking the iPhone user agent on his laptop, he was able to enter a valid iPhone number and connect directly from his laptop for free. I see your laptop access, and raise you S60! I can’t test it out right now but I’ll bet that by installing the file from Harry Salminen’s post about iPhone-formatted webpages on your S60, you’ll be able to enjoy free WiFi by entering a valid iPhone number in your S60 Browser. Of course Salminen’s file is unsigned (and not open signable) so you’ll have to have a valid cert or hack your phone in order to install the tweak.

Check it out and let me know how if it works.

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Stefan over at IntoMobile seems to REALLY dislike the new Google search app for a variety of reasons. They seem to stem from Google’s perhaps misleading video depicting a standard Google search in the S60 browser and a new search using Google’s app. The new app by the way, can be downloaded by hitting mobile.google.com from your S60 browser. It adds a “widget” to your Active Standby screen and gives you instant access to a Google search box.

Personally, I like the app a lot. I’m a marcom guy so I could care less about alleged marketing video tomfoolery and whatnot. The bottom line is this app adds a nifty shortcut that makes it easy to perform a Google search quickly and efficiently. I made sure to add the word “efficiently” because Stefan’s post does offer an alternative procedure that is reportedly quicker, but it involves changing your homepage to Google and defining a default AP. That might work well for some people but personally, I don’t want Google as my homepage and I don’t want a default AP in my browser. It’s really just a matter of preference and habit. If you do go for this method though, might I suggest a slightly alternative method:

• With your Google bookmark highlighted in S60 Browser bookmarks, go to Options -> Bookmark Manager -> Edit.
• Set the Default AP for your Google bookmark here, that way the rest of your bookmarks are unaffected.

• Now simply use SkyeQuiKey to launch the bookmark whenever you want. (Clear your SkyeQuiKey history before launching the Google bookmark. With future launches, all you’ll need to do is press “4″ then “Ok”.)

Yes, this assumes you have SkyeQuiKey - but why wouldn’t you? If for some reason you don’t (I can’t imagine) there are plenty of other apps that give quick access to bookmarks.

Anyway, I still like the new Google Search app and recommend it above either alternative. It’s simple, out of the way and efficient. There is a problem however: What about devices without a pencil key? You still want the same fast access to the search, and you definitely don’t want that ugly Google icon on your Active Standby screen, so what do you do? Unfortunately the solution is not as simple as I’d like it to be, but this method will actually solve a bunch of problems you might be facing with other apps as well. It will give you a pencil key!

Wha wha what? Developer Yurij Bakunin (aka JBAK) has created two apps that can be used in tandem to give you pencil key functionality. Check it…

• Download this archive. It contains two apps (KeyCode by JBAK and ThePencil by JBAK) and one file (ThePencil.ini).
• KeyCode is self-signed but ThePencil is unsigned. Sign it.
• Install and launch KeyCode. When running, this app will give you code data as you press each key. Press the key that you would like to replace as the pencil key and note the ScanCode.

• Now open ThePencil.ini in Notepad on your PC. Simply change xxx to the scan code that you determined with KeyCode, then save and close.
• Install your signed copy of ThePencil.
• Place your edited copy of ThePencil.ini in the following directory on your handset: C:\System\Data (overwrite the existing file). Note that you’ll need to copy it to an accessible directory on your handset’s C: or E: drive, then copy it over with a file manager.
• Reboot

Now the key you chose will always be replaced by a pencil key in terms of functionality. You can also powerboot ThePencil if it doesn’t already autostart. Note that if you want the old functionality of the key back, kill ThePencil with any decent task manager (I use the process section of ActiveFile). To stop it permanently, uninstall ThePencil. I’m thinking that this post will become a lot more relevant to people in a few months once the E71 comes around… Maybe I should have waited.

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I find that one of the more annoying limitations with S60 devices is that fact that once your device has “learned” a new word and added it to your predictive text dictionary, there’s no going back. It seems that every time I add a new word to the user dictionary it replaces a more commonly used word. I make enough mistakes with T9 so the last thing I need is “yes” being replaced by “WEP” every time I type it, just because I was talking to someone amonth ago about WiFi security… I’m sure that everyone reading this right now has experienced this annoying scenario.

Thanks to a chat with Matt of The SymbianVerse blog I now know that there is a way to delete user additions without having to go as far as formatting your device. Unfortunately it’s an “all or nothing” solution (all user additions are removed) but it’s still far better than having to back up all of your data and perform a hard reset.

Getting a fresh start with predictive text is actually quite simple:

1. Use a file browser (Y-Browser, ActiveFile, X-plore, etc) and delete the directory C:\Predic (delete the entire directory, not just the DAT file within).
2. Reboot your device.

That’s it! Now you can enjoy a blank slate - at least until the next time you add a word that you shouldn’t have… ;)

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As many speculated (and as I had been told) the browser image display bug is a result of certain issues involving AT&T proxy servers. As such, T-Mobile users wouldn’t have any issue with it, but now AT&T users don’t have to worry about this bug either!

Thanks to the help of Chance Arrington, I’m now looking at crystal clear images in my N95-3 browser and I couldn’t be happier. Chanse commented on my original post but I still had some issues after following his instructions. Thankfully he contacted me directly and walked me through a few more suggestions. Viola! Problem solved.

Future N95-3 owners be aware, this is the first thing you should do once you receive your new phone if you plan to use it on AT&T networks and have a MEdiaNet plan. This should also resolve the issue for users of any other device that are experiencing this problem. Make sure that you clear your cache before following the instructions below.

Go to Settings -> Connections -> Acces points and highlight MEdiaNet. Press Options -> Duplicate access point. In the settings of the duplicate AP (which will be named MEdiaNet(01) by default, which is fine), press Options -> Advanced settings. Now scroll to the bottom and delete both the Proxy server address and the Proxy port number.

Now simply save your new AP, reboot and you’re set! You should use this AP for all apps that maintain a data connection. As Chanse and I discovered, even if you set this new AP as the default bowser AP other apps using your original MEdiaNet AP can cause the browser bug to resurface. The only possible downside is that you will not be able to access the MEdiaNet homepage while connected via your new AP, but who really uses the MEdiaNet homepage?

A big thanks to Chanse Arrington for all of his help! He has also brought it to my attention that starting with the N95 8GB, non-branded devices will automatically create three APs when used on AT&T networks: one for MEdiaNet, one for MMS and a third proxyless MEdiaNet AP like the one you’ve created by following the instructions above. Brilliant! :)

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One of my favorite file managers/system utilities is one that I have yet to talk about here on SiMo. ActiveFile by Alie Tan is an incredibly feature-rich freeware utility that first separated itself from other file managers by implementing tabbed browsing. By providing you with two file browser tabs, ActiveFile allows you to easily navigate different directories simultaneously and utilize advanced copy/paste/move functionality. Since Alie first released this great app he has done an excellent job of consistently adding more unique features and also keeping up with competitive apps by adding various functionality that has come to be expected in an s60 file manager.

Among the new functionality in recent builds of this app is a very cool little feature called memory monitor. I have a tremendous number of apps installed on my devices at all times. Beyond that I’m constantly testing beta apps. As such, there are leaks galore on my device and I know I’m not alone. As strict as Symbian Signed guidelines are these days, they still seem to let plenty of apps through with all kinds of issues including memory leaks. Most S60 devices already have enough issues with free RAM so leaks are a VERY big deal.

ActiveFile’s memory monitor provides you with real-time RAM analysis in a small box that will remain in the foreground on all screens. Do you have an app that you think is leaking? Just leave the memory monitor running while you use the questionable app and see how your free RAM looks during and after operation. When an app closes it can take a while for most or all of the occupied memory to be recovered. Even if your free RAM is a bit light after using an app it’s not such a big deal. It’s the apps that release little or no RAM after use, or that continue to occupy more and more RAM during use that you have to watch out for.

To enable the memory monitor, simply choose Start memory monitor from within Options -> Tools as seen above. The default placement is in the top left corner of your screen but this is configurable from within the memory monitor settings. Go to Options -> Settings -> Memory monitor to enter the configuration screen where you’ll find two settings. Mem. monitor location allows you to adjust the placement of the memory monitor box and Mem. monitor sample rate determines the frequency that the memory monitor will be refreshed with your current available RAM.

You now have a great tool in the foreground of any screen that will constantly update with readings of your free RAM.

There are a few issues I have with the current operation of the ActiveFile memory monitor but it’s still a relatively new feature so I’m hoping Alie will work them out in future builds. For one thing, the memory monitor settings revert back to default each time you exit the app. Since I want the monitor top center in most situations this is a bit of a pain for me. Also, I wish that ActiveFile had a Hide option on the right softkey as opposed to Exit (Exit should be within the Options menu only). To reduce ActiveFile to the background as-is you need to press the menu key or perform another function that will auto-reduce the app.

The memory monitor is only one small reason that I enjoy using ActiveFile. I highly recommend that you head over to the ActiveFile page linked above and check it out. On the Attachments tab you’ll find several versions and you should note that to enjoy certain features in ActiveFile (such as screen capture) you’ll need to sign the unsigned version with a developer certificate.

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